Sunrise Sings Praises of Fifth Third

CHICAGO Sunrise Advertising continues its tradition of recruiting celebrity spokespeople for Fifth Third Bancorp, this year enlisting comedian Wayne Brady.

Brady, who once starred in Whose Line Is It Anyway, will appear in advertising for the Cincinnati-based bank, performing the song “Shout” in a series of new television spots for the client’s home equity loan lines. The campaign, which breaks on Jan. 18, also includes print, radio, outdoor, online and in-store executions.

“In a world commodity products, we need to be able to stand out and let our target audience know that we have something relevant for them,” said Jim Browning, principal and chief creative officer of the Cincinnati agency, which has handled the bank’s advertising for the past seven years.

Spending on the 2005 campaign was not disclosed. Fifth Third, which has banks in eight Midwest and Southeast states, spent just over $12 million on advertising from January to September of last year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.